Leveraging Communities to Collaboratively Develop & Operationalize Semantic Technologies

1. Leveraging Communities to Collaboratively Develop & Operationalize Semantic Technologies by Peter P. Yim <peter.yim@cim3.com> September 9, 2004 at the Federal CIO Council – Best Practices Committee - SICoP 2nd Semantic Technologies for eGov Conference at MITRE (McLean, VA) ( v 1.23 )

2. Abstract Semantic Technologies, applied in the presence of the ever increasing computing power and connectivity, could well bode the advent of a paradigm shift (in the sense of Thomas Kuhn's "Scientific Revolution") and usher the real "knowledge economy". What is going to be different this time, the author purports, is that it is more complex than anything else we had experience on, and is going to happen much faster than people may think. As Ray Kurzweil's research keeps showing us, in what he calls the "Law of Time and Chaos," these changes are all moving at an an exponential pace. We will, similarly, need the ways and means to improve our capabilities at an exponential rate, before we would be able to cope with what is coming. Doug Engelbart's "Bootstrap" approach towards developing a collective intelligence through Networked Improvement Communities spells out one strategy whereby we can tackle this imminent challenge. In this paper, the author will share his insight on how we can collaboratively develop & operationalize semantic technologies, through developing and engaging virtual open communities. The author will explore the kind of "shared understanding" that needs to be developed; and the stakeholders, expertise and resources that have to be engaged, before we stand a chance to tackle the type of problem (which Horst Rittle calls a "wicked problem") at hand. The author will proceed to describe the CIM3 methodology, which involves the holistic application of collaboration in tools, process and people, and an organizational form -- the Fishnet Organization (Johansen & Swigart, 1994) -- that is, in his opinion, ideally suited for the purpose. To demonstrate his point, the author will be citing examples from projects and communities of practice that he has been involved in, including those from the Bootstrap community, Ontolog-Forum, the OASIS-UBL standards effort, the ebXML Core Component Type Ontology project, as well as some of the e-Government initiatives like SINE, COLAB and SICoP. The author concludes that open virtual enterprising over such Fishnet organizational form will afford us the agility we need to be competitive and innovative in tomorrow's knowledge economy. However, he also warns that the key to true "open" collaboration will lie in our own "attitude towards sharing."

3. Semantic Technologies, applied in the presence of the ever increasing computing power and connectivity, could well bode the advent of a paradigm shift(in the sense of Thomas Kuhn's "Scientific Revolution")and usher the real "knowledge economy"

4. Understand Your Needs?- What is your semantic application for? • Reference standards • Transaction process • Information Mapping • learning & knowledge discovery Different applications calls for different approaches, technologies and skillset

5. What Resources do you need for your project? • Systems expertise • Domain expertise • Knowledge Engineering / Knowledge Representation expertise • Software Engineering expertise • Program/Project management • Funding

6. Why we need to Collaborate in Communities of Practice? • No one knows all the answers (don’t believe me? try addressing the “triple bottom line” ) • A lot of times, we are dealing with problems which we can’t even properly articulate • It’s urgent! We need our solution quick! • Things around us are changing too fast, and unpredictably • Bottom line: we need a collective intelligence to cope

7. Why “Distributed” Collaboration? • Face-to-face interaction, while good and sometimes even necessary, is something we can’t afford • The expertise needed is too rare, or just isn’t available locally • Multiple perspectives improves quality • We need to involve all stakeholders, and they aren’t all local • It’s more efficient, and it’s finally feasible

8. Introducing CIM3 • CIM Engineering, Inc. - San Mateo, CA (since Jan 1989) • CIM3: “Collaboration In huMan-Machine-Methodology” • Effectively, we are about optimizing systems of: People, Tools and Process • Mission: to enable more effective distributed collaboration and virtual enterprise through bootstrapping collective intelligence over the Internet • Doing business as: • “cim3.com”, “cim3.net” and “cim3.org” • cim3.com – the business arm of the company • cim3.net – the collaborative work environments where client Communities of Practice and distributed team workspaces are hosted • cim3.org – the research arm, and holder of the company’s open technology, content and other intellectual properties • Products/Services: providing an ISP/ASP based Collaborative Work Environment (“CWE”) infrastructure that enables distributed project teams, virtual enterprise partners and communities of practice to work effectively over the Internet.

9. Our Focus:Communities & Distributed Teams • People as an integral part of the system • The Community Spectrum [Kaplan/iCohere] • Affinity Networks • Learning Communities • Communities of Practice (CoP’s) • Project Teams • We optimize our infrastructure, tools and process for CoP’s and Distributed Project Teams

10. CIM3's Approach • Augmentation - human-machine interaction - collaboration - communities • Openness - we use open-source software & comply with open standards as much as we can; we open-source our technology and content, and participate in open standards development • Capitalizing on the Internet technology: taking it • from the research and academic network • to the current form as publishing media • to Transactions and Web Services • onto being its future as knowledge media in the Semantic Web • Providing Enterprise performance, quality, robustness, security & fault tolerance • Providing platform neutrality: supporting machines on PC’s, Mac’s, Linux, Unix, … • System built upon a knowledge architecture optimized for distributed teamwork • Emphasis on effectiveness and strategic value - not technology • Supporting entire user spectrum: from the everyday users to the power users • While we do open-source work, we believe in properly remunerating our contributors, and in helping create a viable economic model for open work, possibly in the form of Open Virtual Enterprises (OVE’s)

11. Case Examples of Communities on the CIM3 CWE • Ontolog-Forum • eGov: COLAB • eGov: SINE • GOV-CWE • NIST-interop • Millennium Project(AC/UNU) • Protégé • Digital Art Ontology • … (more)

12. [ontolog-forum] http://ontolog.cim3.net • Ontolog is an open forum to: • Discuss practical issues and strategies associated with the development of both formal and informal ontologies used in business • Identify ontological engineering approaches that might be applied to the UBL effort (and by extension, to the broader domain of eBusiness standardization efforts) • What holds us together:our Core Value • Developing Shared Understanding • Openness • Advancing the practice of semantic engineering • Doing meaningful work and making a difference with it

13. An Organizational Form that the CWE aims at supporting – bringing us from collaboration to innovation by forging the Open Virtual Enterprises these are temporary (or semi-permanent) hierarchies, that emerge out of the CoP's, which capitalize on distributed capabilities to achieve specific purposes; when those purposes are achieved (or when the opportunities no longer exist), they disband, and the resources (people, knowledge, skillsets) are returned to the CoP's where they come from. The Fishnet Organization Source: Institute for the Future: Johansen, R., Swigart, R.Upsizing the Individual in the Downsized Organization

14. The Challenges • We need to be improving at an exponential rate, just to cope with the exponential rate of “change” happening around us • We need the “tools”, the “process”, and most importantly the “people” to all work together • Team building, with distributed individuals who might not even have met one another, is a challenge • Trusted communities cannot be developed overnight • The current economic and legal infrastructure aren’t meant for these types of organizations • The individual participants hold the key to the communities’ success – it’s in their “attitude towards sharing”

15. For more information, visit: • eGov “COLAB” community work environment – http://colab.cim3.net • [Ontolog-Forum] – our Open International Community of Practice on Business Ontology – http://ontolog.cim3.net/wiki/ • CIM Engineering, Inc. – Collaborative Work Environment infrastructure hosting – http://www.cim3.com

16. About the Author Peter P. Yim is the CEO of CIM Engineering, Inc. (incorporated in California 1989; dba CIM3.com; CIM3.net & CIM3.org). He is also the Co-convener of [Ontolog-Forum], an open international community of practice on business ontologies, and a contributing member of the OASIS Universal Business Language (UBL) Technical Committee. His company has been developing and providing hosted infrastructure that enables highly effective distributed project teams, communities of practice and open virtual enterprising. CIM3 is involved in projects ranging from the development of the ebXML Core Component Type Ontology ([cctont]), to the eGov - COLAB and SINE (Sustainable Intergovernmental Network Exchange) collaborative work environments. Peter works out of Northern California (San Mateo, CA 94402) and can be reached at: peter.yim@cim3.com or (650) 578-9998